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Focusing on Gratitude to Change Your Life

Focusing on Gratitude to Change Your Life can be one of the best ways to see immediate improvement.

Gratitude

Courtesy of Christoski

Why Gratitude?

Living with gratitude you teach yourself to appreciate everything in life. Not just the once in a life time events but the little things. Not once in awhile but all the time. The more you are thankful for, the more you will find you have to be thankful for.

Everyone has something to be grateful for-

Waking up to have to go to work, instead of having no job to go to.

Being able to get in your car to go somewhere (like work), instead of having to take the bus.

Being able to take the bus; instead of having to walk.

Being able to walk, instead of using a wheelchair.

Having a wheelchair to use, instead of being bed ridden and someone taking care of you.

Having someone to take care of you when you’re bed ridden, instead of being alone.

Being, instead of not.

There is Something to be Grateful for no matter where we are in life!

We just have to find a way.

How to Find Your Gratitude

Some of the ways to find gratitude were touched upon in my post with Leo’s video from Actualized.org. If you haven’t seen it it’s worth clicking over to view it. Here are a few of the ways I have found that have had a profound effect upon me.

The Gratitude Journal

The second best way I have found and probably the most recommended by far is the “Gratitude Journal”.

Get a notebook and write down 3 – 5 things you are grateful for.

They can be big, small, recent, in the past, even the future – finding the love of your life, having your children, being able to retire, a beautiful day, a warm smile, a dollar you found in your coat pocket, a lesson learned when you were young, how someone made you feel, your coming retirement… this is limited to only your imagination.

It might be hard at first but you’ll be surprised at how quickly you find things to be grateful for.

Now that you’ve written them down, pause, read each one as you read it consciously feel the gratitude inside emanating out of you.

How often should you write them down? That depends on you. I do it M-F after my lunch meditation. If a certain time daily works for you, do it then. If that feels like a chore, pick one day during the week to do your Gratitude Journal. The important thing is that it should not feel like a chore when you do it. Maybe it’s M,W,F before work. Saturday morning. You choose what’s best for you.

A Set Gratitude Moment

If writing is not your thing pick a certain time of day and create a habit of thinking of everything you are grateful for.

-In the car on your way to work, in the shower, as a nightly prayer.

The key is to have specific points in your life where you STOP and find things to be grateful for in your life. Then let that flow over into your daily life.

Be a Gratitude Radiator

Consciously imagine, as you go through your day, that you radiate gratitude. It just pulses out of you to everyone around you. Let me know how that changes your day and the way people respond to you. It’s hard to have too bad of a day when you are radiating gratitude.

A Vow of Thank You

Make a vow to yourself. Today I am going to look people in the eyes to genuinely say “Thank You”.

Meditate with the Intention of Gratitude

Meditating with the Intention of Gratitude has, without a doubt, had the single most profound effect on me. I came across a meditation at the Chopra Centercalled Manifesting Grace Through Gratitude (click on the store tab to find it, it was $49.99 and worth every penny). If they have a free experience going I encourage you to give that one a try.

If you need to review the script to understand it better or perhaps English is a second language and it would help; Sharon atDoinTheGratefulDanceblog has transcribed it.

The way it works is that it is 21 days of meditation. Each day Oprah speaks of an aspect of gratitude, then Deepak Chopra speaks of the days lesson on gratitude, then you meditate for a short while. They include a “Centering Thought”, a Mantra for the meditation and a journal with questions about the days lesson to answer and make you think.

I can’t even explain what a difference this made on my ability to manifest gratitude in my life and how much my life has changed because of it. I cannot recommend it enough. (disclaimer: the only thing I receive for someone clicking over is knowing how much it will help them. I am paid nothing for recommending it.)